Nikku Madhusudhan

Nikku Madhusudhan is a Professor of Astrophysics and Exoplanetary Science at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge. He is credited with developing the technique of atmospheric retrieval to infer the compositions of exoplanets.

Nikku Madhusudhan
Born
Nikku Madhusudhan
Alma materIIT-BHU (B. Tech)
MIT (MS, PhD)
Awards
  • EAS MERAC Prize in Theoretical Astrophysics (2019).[1]
  • IUPAP Young Scientist Medal in Astrophysics (2016)[2]
  • ASI Vainu Bappu Gold Medal (2014)[3]
Scientific career
FieldsExoplanets
InstitutionsInstitute of Astronomy, Cambridge
MIT
Princeton University
Yale University
ThesisRetrieval of Atmospheric Properties of Extrasolar Planets (2009)
Doctoral advisorSara Seager
Websitepeople.ast.cam.ac.uk/~nmadhu/Nikku_Madhusudhan/Home.html

Education

Madhusudhan obtained a B. Tech at Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi before pursuing an MS and PhD at MIT. His doctoral advisor was Sara Seager.[4]

Research

During his PhD, Madhusudhan developed a method for inferring the composition and temperature structure of exoplanet atmospheres known as atmospheric retrieval, which is widely used today.[5] In 2012, Madhusudhan showed that the mass and radius of the super-Earth 55 Cancri e was consistent with a carbon-rich interior.[6] In 2014, he led a team which obtained high-precision measurements of the atmospheric water abundances of three hot Jupiters, finding less water than would be expected given planet formation models at the time.[7] Madhusudhan was part of a team that detected titanium oxide in the atmosphere of the planet WASP-19b.[8] In 2020, Madhusudhan led a team who studied the interior and atmosphere of the mini-Neptune exoplanet K2-18b.[9] They found that in certain cases, liquid water may exist on the planet's surface, albeit at temperatures and pressures higher than STP.[10]

References
  1. "MERAC Prizes". unige.ch.
  2. "News, IUPAP". iupap.org.
  3. "Professor M. K. Vainu Bappu Gold Medal, IUPAP". iupap.org.
  4. "Exoplanet Atmospheres - Sara Seager". saraseager.com.
  5. Madhusudhan, Nikku; et al. (December 2009). "A Temperature and Abundance Retrieval Method for Exoplanet Atmospheres". The Astrophysical Journal. 707 (1): 24–39. arXiv:0910.1347. Bibcode:2009ApJ...707...24M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/707/1/24.
  6. "Diamond Planet Found - Part of a "Whole New Class?"". nationalgeographic.com.
  7. "Hubble Finds Three Surprisingly Dry Exoplanets". hubblesite.org.
  8. Sedaghati, Elyar; et al. (2017). "Detection of titanium oxide in the atmosphere of a hot Jupiter". Nature. 549 (7671): 238–241. arXiv:1709.04118. Bibcode:2017Natur.549..238S. doi:10.1038/nature23651.
  9. Madhusudhan, Nikku; et al. (March 2020). "The Interior and Atmosphere of the Habitable-zone Exoplanet K2-18b". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 891 (1). L7. arXiv:2002.11115. Bibcode:2020ApJ...891L...7M. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ab7229.
  10. "Potentially habitable exoplanet could broaden the search for life beyond Earth". cnn.com.


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